Iran marks revolution with demand to expel Israel from UN

Crowds in Tehran’s Azadi Square hold up portraits of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as of the founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, at Sunday’s rally. (Reuters)
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Updated 11 February 2024
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Iran marks revolution with demand to expel Israel from UN

  • Raisi accuses ‘Zionist entity’ of committing ‘genocide’ in Gaza with support of US, West

TEHRAN: Iran marked 45 years since its Islamic revolution with a ceremony Sunday in which President Ebrahim Raisi condemned arch foe Israel over the Gaza war and demanded it be expelled from the UN.

Since Iran’s 1979 revolution that overthrew the US-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the region’s main Shiite power has had deeply hostile relations with Israel, the US and Britain.
Tensions have spiraled further since the bloodiest ever Gaza war erupted on October 7 with the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ attack on Israel, in turn sparking violence between Iran-backed militant groups and US forces.

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Since Iran’s 1979 revolution that overthrew the US-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the region’s main Shiite power has had deeply hostile relations with Israel, the US and Britain.

Support for the Palestinian cause and harsh criticism of the US — often dubbed the “Great Satan” in Iran — and Israel dominated ceremonies marking the anniversary.
In Tehran, Raisi accused the “Zionist entity,” Iran’s term for Israel, of committing “genocide” in Gaza with the support of the United States and other Western countries.
Supporters chanted “Down with the United States,” “Down with Israel” and “Down with the United Kingdom” at the square, where Iranian-made missiles and other military hardware were on display.
Raisi demanded that the “bombing of Gaza should be stopped as soon as possible” and declared that “the death of the Zionist regime has come,” in his speech to thousands at Azadi Square in western Tehran.
He asked about Israel: “How can a regime that has violated 400 statements and resolutions of international organizations adhere to UN covenants?
“We believe that one of the important steps that should be taken is the expulsion of the Zionist regime from the UN.”
Iran has hailed Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack as a “success” but denied any direct involvement.
Crowds in Azadi Square held up portraits of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US strike in January 2020.
Iran has been under crippling US sanctions since Washington’s 2018 withdrawal from a landmark deal which granted it sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear program.
The US has accused Tehran of “actively facilitating” attacks on US forces in the Middle East and of backing attacks on Red Sea shipping by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, charges Iran has denied.
Around Azadi Square, Iranian-made Qiam ballistic missiles, Shahed 136 drones and Simorgh satellite launchers were on display.
Western countries have accused Iran of supplying drones to Russia during the Ukraine war, which Tehran denies, and missiles to armed groups in the Middle East.
The celebrations come ahead of March 1 elections, the first national vote since a large-scale protest movement shook Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16, 2022. Amini, 22, died after being arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.


Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391

Updated 4 sec ago
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Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391

The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours

GAZA STRIP: The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Tuesday that at least 43,391 people have been killed in the year-old war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 102,347 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands

Updated 22 min 44 sec ago
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Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands

  • At the end of October, several hundred migrants set up tents and cardboard houses outside the local government offices of the city of Rhodes, sparking anger among residents
  • Rhodes mayor Alexandros Koliadis told Rodiaki that the island lacks the personnel, police officers and coast guard needed to register the arrivals before transferring them to camps

ATHENS: Some islands in the southeast of the Aegean sea, including Rhodes, are seeing an increase in migrants arriving by boat from Turkiye, Greek migration and asylum minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said Tuesday.
“The southeast of the Aegean and the island of Rhodes are experiencing migratory pressure right now,” he said on public television station ERT, though he said the increase does not appear to be linked to rising tensions in the Middle East.
At the end of October, several hundred migrants set up tents and cardboard houses outside the local government offices of the city of Rhodes, sparking anger among residents and local authorities.
According to local media Rodiaki, more than 700 migrants arrived during the last week of October.
Rhodes mayor Alexandros Koliadis told Rodiaki that the island lacks the personnel, police officers and coast guard needed to register the arrivals before transferring them to camps on the mainland or in other islands.
Previously, Aegean islands further north such as Lesbos and Samos had received the brunt of migrants crossing from Turkish shores.
Crete, which has likewise seen an increase in arrivals from Libya, also needs to build facilities to process migrants.
Greece has seen a 25 percent increase this year in the number of people fleeing war and poverty, with a 30 percent increase alone to Rhodes and the south-east Aegean, according to the Migration Ministry.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says 48,158 arrivals have been recorded so far in 2024, of which around 42,000 arrived by boat and 6,000 by crossing the land frontier with Turkiye.
“The camps on the islands have an occupancy rate of 100 percent. But on the mainland they are only 55 percent full, which provides a margin in the event of an increase in arrivals on the islands,” Panagiotopoulos said.


Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister

Updated 35 min 21 sec ago
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Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister

  • Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF

PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s army-backed government on Tuesday accused neighboring Chad of supplying arms to rebel militias, likely referring to the paramilitary forces it is battling.
The northeast African country has been engulfed by war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the regular army, led by de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Justice minister Muawiya Osman said Burhan’s administration had lodged the complaint against Chad at the African Union.
Speaking to reporters, including AFP, Osman said the government demanded compensation and accused Chad of “supplying arms to rebel militias” and causing “harm to Sudanese citizens.”
“We will present evidence to the relevant authorities,” he added from Port Sudan, where Burhan relocated after fighting spread to the capital, Khartoum.
Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF.
“We do not support any of the factions that are fighting on Sudanese territory — we are in favor of peace,” foreign minister and government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said at the time.
The United Nations has been using the Adre border crossing between the two countries to deliver humanitarian aid.
Sudan had initially agreed to keep the crossing open for three months, a period set to expire on November 15. Authorities in Khartoum have yet to decide whether to extend the arrangement.
The Sudanese war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million, including 3.1 million who are now sheltering beyond the country’s borders.


Explosion at Turkish oil refinery injures 12

Updated 53 min 31 sec ago
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Explosion at Turkish oil refinery injures 12

  • The 12 employees sustained slight injuries and were taken to a hospital for examinations

ANKARA: An explosion at an oil refinery in northwestern Turkiye on Tuesday left at least 12 employees slightly injured, the company said. A fire at the facility was quickly brought under control.
The Turkish Petroleum Refineries company, TUPRAS, said a fire broke out at its facilities in Izmit, in Kocaeli province, during maintenance work on a compressor. The company’s emergency teams responded immediately to the incident, it said in a statement.
The 12 employees sustained slight injuries and were taken to a hospital for examinations, the company said.
The company said the unit where the incident occurred “was deactivated in a controlled manner” and that other operations at the refinery were “continuing as normal.”
Earlier, Tahir Buyukakin, the mayor for Kocaeli told private NTV television that the blast occurred during a drill. The fire was quickly brought under control by the company’s own crews and no request for help was made, he said.
Video footage from the site showed smoke rising from the refinery, which is one of Turkiye’s largest. Izmit is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Istanbul.
The Borsa Istanbul stock exchange temporarily halted trading of TUPRAS shares, until the company provides a detailed explanation of the incident.


Israeli strikes hit south of Beirut and Lebanon’s Bekaa region

Updated 05 November 2024
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Israeli strikes hit south of Beirut and Lebanon’s Bekaa region

BEIRUT: At least one Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building in a beach town south of Beirut on Tuesday, Lebanese state media said, as other deadly strikes hit scattered locations across the country and armed group Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel.
The attack on the beach town of Jiyyeh left a massive smoke column billowing out of an apartment building. It was not immediately clear if the strike was an assassination attempt, and no evacuation warning was given before it was carried out.
The Israeli military and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been exchanging fire for over a year in parallel with the Gaza war, but hostilities have escalated over the last six weeks. More than 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon, most of them since late September, according to health authorities.
Israeli strikes on Tuesday also killed five people near the city of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley, including two killed in a strike on a car, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Lebanon’s state news agency said on Tuesday that it estimated Israeli air strikes and widespread detonation of homes had destroyed more than 40,000 housing units in the country’s border region.